Just Being There Is Enough
by justrandome
Summary: Selina comes for a late night visit in Wayne Manor. Bruce finds her crying.


**A/N: So I watched episode 15 and my hand slipped. Also this takes place right after s4 e15**

* * *

Bruce was startled awake. He must had fallen asleep while working on his casefiles. The only light in his father's study came from the windows, his desk lamp must have burned out.

It took Bruce a couple extra seconds than normally to find what exactly had woken him. No windows were broken and no one was attacking him which was a nice change of phase.

Instead Selina had decided to make a visit. But she seemed somehow smaller looking over him unsurely. Bruce saw that she had been crying. She looked like she felt guilty even coming to here. All of her normal confidence was gone. There was only one thing that could get her like this.

Bruce didn't even bother saying hello. They were past that. "You returned the jewelry?"

Selina nodded. Her lower lip trembled.

"How did it go?" Bruce asked carefully standing up.

"It was horrible Bruce." Selina said. She didn't seem to know how to stand or where to put her hands. In the end she settled for hugging herself tightly.

"Where they mad?" Bruce asked circling the desk so he could stand opposite to Selina. He felt like he was trying to catch a scared cat, no pun intended.

"No they weren't. They were like the nicest grieving family ever." This time Selina couldn't stop the tears rolling. "That made it even worse. They should have yelled at me. Instead the mother just thanked for returning the stuff that I stole and said it wasn't my fault. She should have screamed at me, Bruce. She should have told me how terrible I am and how much she wanted me dead instead of her husband."

Something told Bruce that what Selina was subscribing how she felt about herself rather than what the woman should have felt. "Selina, it wasn't your fault."

"But it was. I was should have known, I should have stopped Ivy and instead…" She was spinning out of control. So Bruce caught her. He did the only thing he could think of and wrapped his arms around Selina's shoulders. She stiffened first but then wrapped her own arms around his torso and hugged tightly. She cried against his chest and Bruce petted her hair with steady strokes hoping to make her feel better.

Long ago, what felt like it had happened in a different life, Selina had hugged him in a hospital to comfort him. Times had been simpler then. It was before Selina pushed Reggie out of a window, before Galavan had tried to kill him, before Indian Hill and the Court of Owls or Ra's al Ghul. Selina had come to him to say that she is sorry. She used to be taller than him too. When did that change, Bruce didn't know. Sometimes he wished that they shouldn't have grown up because world seemed to turn darker as they did. He wished that his parents would still be alive. Only family member that he had left was Alfred and Ra's al Ghul had brainwashed Bruce to kill him. Alfred had always been there for him and how did he pay that back.

Same with Selina. Selina had helped him countless times and how did he reword her? By yelling at her and accusing her of things that he didn't really mean.

He didn't deserve them, Bruce thought. Jim or Lucius or Alfred and most of all Selina. He had wanted to kill Reggie, Malone, Jerome, nearly unleashed the Tetch virus on Gotham, he had killed Alfred, murdered Ra's and went on a foolish cry for help only to kick Alfred out. If it wasn't for Ivy's toxin he wouldn't have snapped out of it.

Selina had been there for him through thick and thin. They had their fights and arguments but he always found him or she always came back.

And now he was nearly eighteen like Selina. She was year older than him but right now she seemed so young, sniffling against him. So Bruce continued to be her rock that she could cling onto. They may come from different backgrounds and their willingness to cross certain lines were certainly different but somehow their paths seemed to cross more often than not. He knew he was right no matter what Selina claimed. They were the same. Recent events had only proven him right.

With time Selina slowly started to calm down. She didn't sniffle as often and Bruce suspected she would soon pull her walls up that he always had to torn down to get to her. She would put on her usual smirk and dance away out of reach so she wouldn't get hurt. She had been abandoned so many times. Bruce knew he was guilty of some of her heartbreaks which only made it worse. He didn't want to hurt Selina, he only wanted to protect her and but too often those things seemed to be the same.

But this time, Selina didn't pull away. Even if she eventually stopped crying she stayed where she was, just hugging Bruce tightly. He would give anything to know what she was thinking and considered asking but he didn't want to break the spell. So he continued stroking her hair with calm and steady movements. So they just stood there quietly listening to each other's heartbeat that slowly synchronized to one.

It was Selina who first stepped away. But she didn't let go of his hand. She used her right hand to wipe the tears away but kept her left hands fingers twined to Bruce's.

"Listen, I…" Selina nervously started. She felt bad about the crying, Bruce knew.

"Save it. You don't need to say anything." Bruce said before she could finish.

"I know. Thank you." Selina couldn't face his eyes instead of keeping her gaze on his shoes.

"No problem." Bruce gave a reassuring squeeze to her hand.

"You don't have to do this you know. I don't want you to feel bad for me or anything." She added. Bruce could already sense her closing her walls.

Bruce gently pushed her chin up so he could look into her eyes. "I know Selina, it's what friends are for."

"Oh we are friends now?" A familiar playful smirk returned to her lips. Her eyes were still red and her face still puffy from all the crying but she seemed like her usual self otherwise. The one who liked to toy with her prey.

"I was hoping so." Bruce said calmly.

"We will see about that. You have bed hair by the way." Selina pointed causing Bruce self-consciously try to brush it down.

"Well it is four a clock in the morning."

"You look adorable when you sleep. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"Why would they?" Bruce frowned.

"No reason." Selina stepped farther away but didn't let go of his hand. "If you tell anyone that I cried I will kill you.

That made Bruce smile. She was back to her old self. "I wouldn't expect any less from you."

They stood there silently. Bruce had no idea what he should do or say so he waited. Selina would break first, he hoped.

Finally she did. "I probably should get going." She didn't move.

"You can stay here if you want." Bruce tried to push his luck.

"Are you sure your butler is going to accept that?" Selina said to his surprise.

"Alfred isn't here right now. He is still staying at his place in the Narrows." Bruce felt a pinch of guilt. He had offered to pay his rent from the time that Alfred had stayed there but he had refused.

"Okay then. Can I get some clothes to sleep in? My current ones are good for stealth but not what I would call pajamas." Selina said gesturing her black stealth costume. She had started wearing it after joining with Tabitha Galavan and Barbara Kean. Probably useful for stealing but Bruce secretly hoped she wouldn't wear it.

"Sure, I can fetch you some of my old t-shirts. Your old guestroom should be ready." Bruce said finally letting go of her hand and marching out to find her some clothes. He didn't hear where Selina went which wasn't unusual since she had a light step. His best guess was that she went to the kitchen to find something to eat.

He found later that he was right, Selina indeed found her something to eat. She was sitting on the bed with a cookie jar when Bruce returned to the guestroom. He folded a clean shirt on the edge of the bed and took one worried look on Selina who was focusing on her cookies.

"You sure you are alright?"

She looked ready to yell at him but once she saw her face she softened. "I'm sure. Go to bed before I get mad at you."

"Good night." Bruce said as he left the room. Her answer was to scoff at him loudly.

Bruce changed to his own pajamas and slipped under the blanket. It would be difficult to fall asleep after his snap at the study and he considered pulling an all-nighter and return to his files. He had been working on a full list of Oswald Cobblepot's associates and now with Sofia Falcone out of the picture Gotham's underworld had a power vacuum. He was sure that Cobblepot would try to reclaim his old place as the king of Gotham. Edward Nygma had helped him to escape Arkham, his motivations unknown but no doubt troublesome. There was a chance that Cobblepot would attack the Gotham Central to finish Falcone family but he most likely had more urgent matters to attend to. If he and Nygma were back to being working together their next move might be to get revenge on Kean and Galavan, maybe even Selina. From what Bruce had heard they had played part in Cobblepot's downfall. Bruce considered straight up asking Selina the details but he ultimately deemed in unnecessary. He sensed that the Sirens weren't as close as they used to be since Selina had teamed up with Ivy and now turned to him. There was no telling with Selina, Bruce reminded himself. For all he knew she could slip out to the night when he was sleeping to get back to his partners.

Bruce turned sides. He was seriously considering getting up and continuing his research. Arkham especially worried him. There was a dangerous amount of high class criminals locked up in there. Valeska, Tetch, Crane and many others. Bruce had a bad feeling about it.

Closing steps alarmed to sit up swiftly. Selina had appeared to the doorway. Her wild brown curls were fluffier than usual so Bruce deduced she had been rolling around and failed to get any sleep like he had.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"I ate the cookies." She answered still staying at the doorway.

"There are more in the kitchen." Bruce answered swinging his legs to the floor ready to get up. "I assume you can't sleep?"

"Yeah. I was wondering… well…" Selina looked down looking shy perhaps the first time that Bruce had ever seen. This night had truly being peculiar.

Bruce waited her to continue.

"Ah, it's stupid. Never mind." Selina finally said and turned around.

"I'm sure it's not stupid. Just tell me." Bruce said patiently.

"Just forget about it, okay?" Selina snapped.

Bruce got up. "Selina, would you please tell me what is on your mind?"

She let out a long huff. "Promise you won't laugh."

"I promise." Bruce said trying to hide his curiosity.

"I can't get any sleep because I'm thinking too much and I'm thinking too much because…" Selina took a quick look on him. "That part is not important. What I meant to say…"

"Don't stall, Selina. I'm sure it's nothing too bad." Bruce sat back down to the edge of his bed.

Selina suddenly seemed very interested on her loaned shirt's hem.

"You are not on your periods aren't you? I think there are some pads left in the bathroom." Bruce said little awkwardly. Alfred had a habit to keep some on hold since Selina had visited the house quite often or any other female guest would need them.

"God no! That wasn't what I meant at all." Selina looked horrified. "Fine, can I sleep with you?"

Bruce turned red. Sure, he and Selina used to date but they had never gone past kissing. Bruce had had some flings with some of the girls that he partied with but those hadn't gone that far either. Mostly he had just gotten drunk and buy random things.

"No, that's not what I meant either. I just don't want to sleep alone but it's stupid and actually forget that this ever happened. I'll disappear now." Selina mumbled awkwardly.

"Come over here." Bruce patted the bed. "I'm sure you can fit in."

He was right of course. Bruce slept in king-sized bed but suddenly he felt more awkward than ever before. He tried to hide it as best as he could.

Selina slowly walked closer looking around as if to find any excuse to run away. That made Bruce feel little better about himself. It seemed that Selina felt as awkward as he was.

She took a deep breath then snuggled under the covers. Bruce did the same. They were facing each other and Bruce considered turning his back to her just so he wasn't forced to look at Selina's eyes. She studied him and suddenly a sly smile appeared to her lips. Bruce was sure he had never been this afraid in his life. When he had stayed with Selina couple years back they had occasionally shared a bed but this felt different somehow. Maybe it was because they were older and today had been unusual enough already.

"Bruce, calm down, you look like as if I am holding a knife to your throat. I won't bite." Selina said teasingly.

"I know, I'm just thinking." Bruce said slowly calming down. He must have imagined it. This was Selina, he knew her, his friend. There was no reason to be uncomfortable around her.

"About what?" She moved to get another pillow as she talked.

"Those files that I was working on earlier." Bruce said feeling better.

Selina curled into a small ball. "They seemed boring. Something about Penguin and Arkham."

"I guess they can be quite boring." Bruce admitted.

Selina blew some of her hair out of her face. "Why are you looking into that stuff anyway? Is it still about your studying?"

Bruce rolled his eyes. "You could say that."

"You are still as weird as I remembered." It was Selina's turn to roll her eyes.

"Oh so you thought about me often?" Bruce bit back his smile.

"You had to go and ruin it." Selina turned to her lay on her back. "What are you gonna do with that stuff anyway?"

"Why are you suddenly asking so many questions? If I didn't know any better I would start to suspect that you actually cared about me."

He earned a kick to his side.

"Shut up." Bruce could hear from Selina's voice that she was smiling.

They stayed silent for a while. Bruce thought Selina had fallen asleep, he started to feel tired himself, until she scooted from the other side of bed right next to Bruce.

Selina kept her eyes close but her breathing was too fast for her to be asleep.

"What are you doing?" Bruce asked, uncertain.

"I already told you to shut up." She turned around and snuggled against Bruce's chest. He let his hand rest on her waist.

"Nice to see you stick around." He whispered into her ear.

Selina only pressed herself closer and like that they both finally fell asleep.


End file.
